Jackals Stun Kalamazoo With Miracle Win
December 3, 2004 - International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Elmira Jackals News Release
Elmira, NY - The Elmira Jackals pulled off their biggest come-from-behind win of the season as they beat the Kalamazoo Wings 5-4 in shootout Friday night at the First Arena.
Kalamazoo jumped on top with three goals in the first period. Tom Ditzer forced a trickling puck past Greg Hewitt at 8:40 for a 1-0 lead. Later in the period the K-Wings rattled off two straight goals in the span of twenty second. Sean Starke scored a power play goal at 16:21 and then Tyson Turgeon made it a 3-0 lead at 16:41 as Kalamazoo rolled through the opening twenty minutes.
The Jackals grabbed the momentum back early in the second period when left wing Tom Clayton scored his first goal of the season at 4:20, a shot that deflected up over the shoulder of Chad Alban, for a 3-1 score. But even though Elmira out-shot Kalamazoo 10-to-5 in the middle frame, the Wings got the goal back at 17:22 when Chad Allen scored the team's second power play goal of the night.
Jackals' fans facing a 3-goal deficit with less than five minutes to play in the final period most likely did not feel very optimistic of their team's chances of any points in this game, let alone a two-point win. But the improbable started to become a reality at 16:24 when Jason Sessa gathered a rebound from Derek Campbell and George Pujacs and tapped it home; 4-2 Wings. This time it was the Jackals turn to score quickly; just 17 second later Eddy Lowe stole a pass right in front of the K-Wings net and calmly slotted his wrist-shot past Alban for an unassisted goal at 16:41. Elmira brought the First Arena fans to a boil with 68 seconds remaining in the game thanks to Nathan Gillies who one-timed the equalizer into the net, courtesy of a fantastic pass from behind the cage by Carl Drakensjo; Trevor Burgess also assisted on the goal.
In the shootout, Kalamazoo's Shaun Fischer scored in the first round, but was quickly matched by Jason Sessa. Hewitt then pulled the plug on the Wings. He stopped the next three attempts before Jeff Antonovich put the Jackals ahead with a goal in the 4th round that just crept over the shoulder of Alban. In round 5 Hewitt flashed a sensational glove save that denied Turgeon of the tying goal, sending the fans home with the win.
Hewitt earned his league-best 4th shootout win of the year, his 11th win overall, while stopping 20-of-24 and stopped 4-of-5 in the shootout. Alban made 24 saves on 28 shots in regulation, but went 2-for-4 in the extra session.
The Jackals will next play host to their East Division rivals the Richmond Riverdogs Saturday night at 7:30 pm at the First Arena, while Kalamazoo continues their east-swinging road trip Saturday against Adirondack in Glens Falls, NY.
www.jackalshockey.com - Real Hockey, Real Fans! - www.jackalshockey.com
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International Hockey League 2 Stories from December 3, 2004
- Outlaws defeat Mallards at Kemper Arena - Kansas City Outlaws
- Jackals Stun Kalamazoo With Miracle Win - Elmira Jackals
- Mechanics Fall to Komets - Motor City Mechanics
- Reiter Sensational In 2-1 River Otters Shootout Win Against Muskegon - Missouri River Otters
- Predators prospect assigned to IceHogs - Rockford IceHogs
- RiverDogs game night - Richmond RiverDogs
- Outlaws look to turn tide against Mallards - Kansas City Outlaws
- Horigan's Monthly Dinner Series - Elmira Jackals
- Mechanics look to end slump in first ever match-up with Komets - Motor City Mechanics
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